A second wave of COVID-19 is coming, we can’t let history repeat itself
By Trung Le
A few weeks ago, I tested positive for COVID-19. I work in a step-down unit, but because I used to work in the intensive care unit, I often end up in that unit caring for COVID-19 patients. I can’t pinpoint just how I got sick. Maybe it was having to reuse my N95 mask over and over, or the patient who accidentally coughed in my face after I removed her surgical mask, or it could have come from being forced to work 16-hour shifts or pick up extra days because we are so short staffed.
Incidents like this are not unique to my hospital, UConn John Dempsey; it’s happening at all the hospitals. But I was the first frontline nurse at my hospital to get sick, and there are a lot of lessons to be learned from what’s happening to workers like me.
When I got sick, I was staying at a hotel just down the road from the hospital. UConn Health had negotiated rooms for workers who wanted to isolate themselves from their families; but when hotel management found out I was positive, they kicked me out. I was moved to a college dorm room. but it was uncomfortable and I could not rest. Thankfully, I was able to return to the hotel under a strict quarantine. I had been getting better before that, but moving wiped me out. The symptoms of the virus have been rough — fever, nausea and restless nights. I’ve been told I can’t return to work until I am symptom free for three days without medication.
I’ve been quarantined in my hotel room for weeks now, trying to get my strength back. I’m also fighting to stay mentally strong because the isolation is really tough; being sick and isolated sometimes leaves me feeling like I don’t know who is going to take of care me. I hope to turn the corner so I can get back to work, back to a routine. Because I’m quarantined and not allowed to leave my room, UConn Health was supposed to provide food for me, but that somehow fell through the cracks. Lucky for me, I don’t have an appetite. Still, my wife and co-workers drop off meals for me. Thank God, I’m a healthcare worker. I know what to do to get the help I need. I can’t imagine what it’s like for others in my position.
Sitting in my hotel room struggling to breathe while watching protesters pushing for their states to reopen frightens and frustrates me. Hospitals are not even on a downswing yet. So much more needs to happen before we try to return to normalcy.
Let’s start by fixing the disconnect between management and workers. In hospitals, management often sits behind a desk and implements policies that make sense to them on paper but leaves us scratching our heads. My fiasco of being moved from place to place while fighting COVID-19 is a perfect example.
And because healthcare workers have the support of the public, now’s the time to push for policies we’ve been fighting to achieve for years, like short staffing and putting an end to violence from patients and families. We have to ride the wave while we can.
That’s why I don’t mind speaking up about what’s happening. I will say and do what I can to protect my co-workers and myself. We are putting our lives on the line, and when management doesn’t have your back we need laws that will protect us. It’s funny that before COVID-19, a nurse could get reprimanded for reusing personal protective equipment; but in this time of crisis, there have been blatant safety violations left and right, and we haven’t heard a peep from OSHA.
A second wave of COVID-19 is coming. We should have four to five months to stockpile and restock, and I hope that’s what everyone is planning on doing. We need to continue replenishing PPE and adjust protocols so we can have a smoother run during the second wave. I know that hospitals are doing the best they can. But I hope when the dust settles, we can learn from our mistakes so that history does not repeat itself.
Trung Le is a registered nurse and a member of University Health Professionals/AFT Connecticut.
